1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to windshield wipers such as used on motor vehicles and more particularly pertains to a protective boot which may be fittingly secured over a windshield wiper so as to prevent the accumulation of snow and other materials within the flexural portion of the wiper.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One of the more critical problems confronting developers of windshield wipers utilizable to clean windshields of motor vehicles has been how to keep the wiper blades at all times in a close, conforming relationship with the windshields being cleaned. In this respect, windshield wiper blades tend to wear out quickly, as well as to become embrittled with age. These wear and embrittlement problems usually result in the wiper blades losing their effectiveness. Specifically, the wiper blades lose much of their flexibility so that only portions of the blades make contact with a windshield during a wiping operation. This of course results in the blades losing their ability to clean the windshields and the driver of a vehicle is then faced with problems of streaking and dirt accumulation on his windshield which severely affect his visibility.
In an attempt to overcome these problems of wear and embrittlement, developers have designed a number of different types of windshield wipers, many of which use spring like flexural members attached to the wiper blades so that some of the wear and embrittlement may be offset through a biasing force provided by these flexural members. However, the use of these flexural members on wiper blades has created new problems, especially in climates where a lot of snow is experienced, since snow and other materials may accumulate about the flexural members and completely destroy their effectiveness. In this regard, accumulating snow often turns to ice which may cause the flexural members to temporarily warp out of shape thereby pulling portions of a wiper blade completely away from a windshield. Effectively then, the use of these flexurable members in snow climates has only presented new problems associated with attempts to keep wiper blades at all times in contact with windshields, while at the same time doing little to eliminate the problems of wear and embrittlement.
More or less accepting the problems of wear, embrittlement and material accumulation in the flexural portions of windshield wipers as being unsolvable, inventors have instead attemped to improve upon the construction of wiper blades per se so as to overcome these problems. In other words, the belief has been that the solution to these problems must lie in the development of better blades rather than in the structural configuration of the windshield wiper itself. However, the best attempts in improving wiper blade construction have been primarily directed towards the development of attachments designed to be positionable over the wiper blades completely covering the same and serving to effectively replace the wiping function thereof. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,141,023, issued to M. Ryan on Dec. 10, 1938, illustrates a sleeve constructed of an absorbent material and serving to completely cover a windshield wiper. The sleeve is designed to be soaked with antifreeze solution which is an effective means for melting and removing adhering particles of frozen moisture on a windshield. Effectively then, the Ryan sleeve serves as a substitute for a conventional wiper blade since the blade is no longer in contact with a windshield when the sleeve is in position. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,021,548, issued to B. Stoller on Feb. 20, 1962, illustrates another sleeve which completely covers a windshield wiper including its blade and which is designed to clean a windshield which is dry. As such, this sleeve is also used as a substitute for a wiper blade since the blade itself will no longer contact a windshield.
As can be appreciated, the use of these above described sleeve-like attachments has not been well accepted since the same are apparently not commercially available. In that the sleeves effectively act as no more than a substitute windshield wiper blade, the general movement of the industry has been towards the design of windshield wipers which have quickly removable, replaceable wiper blades. Basically then, the industry's solution to the problems of wear, embrittlement and material accumulation in the flexural members has been simply to frequently replace the wiper blades. However, through the use of the present invention, the problems associated with wear, embrittlement and material accumulation are substantially reduced.